Officers with the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety took photos with the child after she was found safe. On Friday, two officers drove the child to meet her mother.
Photo: Alpharetta Department of Public Safety, Twitter

Abducted Texas child found safe in Alpharetta, police say

An abducted 4-year-old child from Texas was found safe by police in Alpharetta on Thursday and then reunited with her mother on Friday.

Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety received a tip from police in DeKalb County that a person wanted in Texas was in north Fulton County.

That man was Nathaniel James — of Tulsa, Oklahoma — and he was wanted for the alleged kidnapping of his daughter, Saadiya James. Police said he was driving a stolen car from Maryland and staying at a hotel in Alpharetta.

Alpharetta police found the vehicle James was driving behind the Hyatt Place hotel on Windward Pkwy. James was taken into custody without incident and is being held in a Fulton County jail while he awaits extradition, police said.

A spokesperson with the sheriff’s office in Grayson County, Texas said James is wanted for a felony charge of interfering with child custody.

Saadiya was unharmed, police said, and brought to Alpharetta Department of Public Safety headquarters. Police met with the Division of Family and Child Services, and the two units agreed the best thing to do was reunite the child with her mother.

Two Alpharetta police drove Saadiya to Memphis, Tennessee to meet the mother who came from Texas to meet them. The two were reunited without incident, police said.